Falling Spark
by Iccirrion
Summary: When the Galactic Federation predict a full scale war with the vengeful space pirates, a plan is put in place that will lead one squad of marines to question where their loyalties really lie. (Rated T for strong Language in future chapters)
1. Chapter 1

**(Kyle Young)**

Kyle looked out the window of the GFS Courage at the world that lay beneath his feet. KU-097, known locally as 'Yearning', the bright blue sun of the system illuminated the northern side of the planet, its waters seeming to glow with an alien green tinge. Two single continents dominated one side of the planet, their untouched forests orange in the sunlight. A stiletto fighter flew past the window and brought Kyle back to what he was supposed to be doing.

The Galactic Federation didn't often come out to colonies such as KU-097, but with the aftermath of the phazon crisis and the resultant battles against the space pirates, the Federation military was in desperate need of further man-power. So an agreement was made with several colonies near the borders of Federation space, the Federation would defend the colony from the space pirate raids that were common outside the Federation's sphere of influence and in return the colonies provided raw materials and food supplies to the core worlds and allowed citizens to join special divisions of the Federation Marine Corps. At least that was what the official story was.

Kyle was a commander and his Admiral had decided that he and his fellow commanders were deserving of the truth, and it didn't please Kyle. Space pirate drones had been detected near several Federation core worlds and this worried the Chairman. Space pirates normally raided immediately, they never did any recon that could reveal their plans, but now they weren't attacking at all, just watching, and the board of Admirals came to the conclusion that the Space pirates were planning a full scale war. It made sense, their home world had been taken and their phazon supplies had been severely crippled by the destruction of Phaaze. The Federation should have realised sooner that the many Pirate strongholds on the outer fringes of the galaxy would soon come for revenge. So the Federation decided to take pre-emptive action by arming the perimeter colonies, their safety was of near no concern, they were a shield to be used while the core worlds recovered their strength. And Kyle didn't like it, he did not join the military to hand out death sentences to entire planets, but his orders were absolute, if he failed to obey he would be stripped of his rank and dismissed, and he couldn't protect anyone like that.

Kyle looked one last time down at the planet, it seemed so peaceful, almost untouched by man, one large city occupied a large island directly in between the two continents and the rest of the population lived in small villages near the shore. His job was to go down to the planet and deliver guns, explosives, orbital lasers and other such weapons, all in the knowledge that it would do no good, such a young colony as this would not last long against a Space Pirate invasion. Kyle shook his head and began walking towards the hanger where his transport and squad would be waiting for him. The best he could do for the colony now was to put all his effort into training the village he would be assigned to, clinging to the slim hope that they might survive what was to come.

Kyle ran his eyes over each member of his squad, there were seven in total, all had served for at least 3 years and all but one had been involved on the assault on the space pirate home world. He was proud of them, this particular squad had only been brought together recently but he knew they would do him proud. He smiled as he looked down at the holo-board he held in his hand, but he didn't need his notes, he already knew perfectly what the mission was.

"Marines of Typhoon Squad." He spoke, his voice clear above the general ruckus of the hanger, "Today we have been tasking with overseeing the military training of Porir. When we arrive planet-side the squad will be split up according to each of your specific talents and sent off to assist in specific parts of the village, for example; Patrick, you are to help improve Porir's communication and early warning systems." Kyle instructed. A marine with short-cut black hair nodded. "In addition to your specific assignments you are also to integrate with the village, we will be living there for at least a year and a half, so make sure you get to know the villagers and make a good first impression of the Federation. The purpose of this assignment is simple, we need to ensure that the planet is prepared for any and all future space pirate raids, our squad is one of many being assigned to the planet to assist in this goal. I expect all of you to work your best to prepare the citizens." Kyle paused, "Any questions?"

A female marine with shoulder length fair hair spoke up, "Are power suits going to be necessary?"

"Power suits will be brought with us but unless there is an emergency they will be kept stored in the transport." Kyle replied. "We aren't expecting any conflict on the planet and if there is, violent suppression is to be the last considered option." None of the other marines spoke. "The transport leaves in 30. Get yourself on board."

Kyle looked out from his position in the co-pilot's seat at the scenery, the planet was even more beautiful up close, the oceans were indeed a greenish colour, as was the noon sky. There were several things he would have to get used to on Yearning; 17 hour days, green sea and sky, and while the population probably spoke galactic standard they undoubtedly would have their own collection of dialects and accents.

"We're in view of Porir now. Preparing to land." His pilot mentioned. Kyle looked over, Ryoutarou Hikari, the only Earth-born in the squad and one of Kyle's longest friends. Ryoutarou was not only the squad's pilot but was also able to perform quick in field repair to weapons and armour, an ability that had proved most useful during the assault on the space pirate home world.

"I'll make sure the others are ready." Kyle responded as he undid his straps and walked out of the room, keeping one hand on the wall, he had never been able to get used to walking about in a moving transport. Even with his slow pace it didn't take him long to get to the passenger area, "Everyone get ready to land, and remember, we need to make a good first impression on these people, if they liked the Federation we wouldn't be here." He said as the ship shook.

"I think you should sit down yourself Sir." Patrick joked as Kyle almost fell to the ground before quickly taking Patrick's advice and strapping himself into the nearest available seat just before the ship shuddered as it began rapidly decelerating.

After about five minutes, Ryoutarou walked into the room. "We've touched down. The mayor is waiting to meet us, he wants to know what our agenda is." He said, rolling his eyes.

"It's no surprise, these people don't trust the Federation, of course the Federation sending soldiers to their village is going to make them suspicious." Kyle said as he stood up and started for the boarding ramp, the rest of his squad following after him.

A short, aging man stood not far from where they had landed, a group of about twenty people standing behind him. Kyle assumed this was the mayor, and presumably the village council. He walked over to the group and extended his right hand.

"I am commander Kyle Young of the Galactic Federation, it is an honour to meet you." He said as the man took his hand.

"Thomas Kelvin, Mayor of Porir." The man replied as Kyle's squad lined up behind him, "We were told you are to help prepare our village against future raids, is that correct."

"Yes." Kyle lied, "Me and my squad each specialise in different areas and will be split up to assist in different areas." He signalled to his squad and began introducing them.

"This is Sergeant Patrick McCoy, our communications expert, he will be able to assist in upgrading the villages communication network and will help develop an advanced early warning system." Kyle said gesturing to Patrick, who took a step forward.

"A pleasure to work with you." He said before stepping back into line

"Corporal Samantha King, she has experience with heavy weapons and will be able to instruct on basic weapon use." Kyle gestured as the female marine from earlier stood forward, saluted and stood back into line.

"Sergeant Ryoutarou Hikari, our pilot and vehicular expert, he also has excellent survival knowledge so will be able to teach you how to get by with only what you can find around you." Kyle gestured to Ryoutarou, who stepped forward and bowed slightly. As Kyle introduced the other members of his squad he started noticing the looks they were getting from the other villagers in the group, he got the distinct feeling that they weren't wanted here.

After he finished his introductions the Mayor began introducing the village council before inviting them into the village hall for a meal.

Kyle lay in his bed and looked up at the ceiling. The council had seemed agreeable enough once they had set aside formalities and were eating together, but he was fairly sure that tomorrow when the rest of the squad were organising their training sessions that the stares would be back. He sighed, hopefully they would start to get along soon, it would be a long 18 months if they didn't.

Tomorrow wouldn't be too eventful for Kyle himself, he had plans to start teaching some of the villagers in strategy and tactical command, but he wanted to see first of all which villagers were handling the other training sessions well. Most of his time for the next month would probably be spent getting to know the villagers, his primary purpose was to serve as an in-between for the village and the fleet, so any questions would be directed to him. At least the rest of the squad seemed to be happy enough with their orders, in a way it made Kyle feel worse, it wasn't just the villagers he had to lie to, his own squad was to be kept in the dark until the Federation determined it was time to return to the Core worlds.

Kyle sighed again before he turned over in his bed and tried to sleep, he didn't like it, knowing that this world was being turned into a sandbag for the Federation brass, and worse, that he was doing the stiching.


	2. Chapter 2

**(June Koris)**

June watched as the Mayor led the squad of soldiers into the village hall, her green eyes analysing each of them in turn. It didn't feel right to her, she had been born and raised on Yearning, to her the Federation were just as alien a power as the space pirates.

"There's no point worrying about it."

June turned to see a short, brown haired woman standing beside her.

"Katelyn." June nodded her head in greeting.

"They're here now, and the decision was made in the capital, so there's nothing much we can do." Katelyn said as she sat down on the grass. June sat down beside her.

"It's not really why they're here that worries me." June explained. "I just don't like it that I don't know where they come from. I mean, I've heard the Galactic Federation govern hundreds of suns, so think of how many places these people could have come from, how many different ways they could have been raised, there's just so much about them that we had probably never considered."

Katelyn laughed, "You always overthink things. They're just human, like us. Think about how people live in the capital, you remember how different they were, I say that these Federation types can't be too different."

June sighed, her friend was probably right, but how could they know, if there were differences between people on the planet, wouldn't those differences be even greater when comparing people from different star systems. She looked up to the sky and brought the blue sun into the corner of her vision, she had heard that most occupied planets had yellow suns, and that some even had two, what stars had the newcomers been born under?

Katelyn sighed as she watched June, the girl was lost in thought again, she did that too much; looking up at the sky and asking questions to the universe.

"I'm going to head home, I have to cook dinner, mother's feeling unwell." Katelyn bluffed as she stood up, not really that she didn't want to talk, but she knew that once June got like this it could be hours before she would be able to focus on a conversation again.

June nodded slightly, not really listening to what Katelyn was saying, thinking now about the three moons that orbited Yearning, at school she was taught how people constructed colonies on moons, where people had to wear vacuum suits just to go outside. Were any of the soldiers from a moon, had they ever breathed a proper atmosphere before? June didn't notice Katelyn walk away, she didn't really notice anything until a hand fell on her shoulder.

June jumped, turning round to see who the hand belonged to. In front of her stood a tall man, his head was completely smooth and his grey eyes looked worried.

"Sorry for scaring you." He said, and although he tried to say it gently his voice was rather gruff. "I saw you from the village hall; you've been standing out here for over an hour, are you alright?"

"I'm…fine, just…daydreaming…" June stuttered as she straightened herself, "…just a…habit…of mine." The man was obviously one of the marines who had arrived, the black military clothes and the Federation symbol on his left shoulder were fairly obvious signs, but aside from them, she felt something different from the man, although she didn't know what it was.

"I'm Uriah Jacob." The man told her, "I'm supposed to be in charge of instructing the village on rapid repair techniques."

"June Koris." June told Uriah, her voice almost a whisper, "I'm an assistant at the bakery." She wasn't sure what else to say, was this how people normally greeted each other in the Federation, with their name and job. She shifted her feet, she hadn't expected to have to talk to one of the newcomers so early, she hadn't had any time to see what they were like.

Uriah frowned, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pressure you." He tried explaining, "I just…I'm going to head back to the hall." And with that he turned and walked back to the hall.

June let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding, she was annoyed at herself, even if they were from somewhere different, it wasn't right to be afraid of them, after all, they were still human. Shaking her head, she turned and started walking towards her house, she had to get back to work tomorrow, and it was also possible that she would be involved in one of the various exercises that the Federation would be performing.

She didn't like it, if the Federation really wanted to protect the colonies, why didn't they just send in their fleets, she had seen a space pirate raid before, they generally only consisted of a few transport ships, and they only ever went to the capital, there was nothing out in the villages worth stealing. So why arm the villages, and train the people to fight, a single battleship above each planet would have been more than enough to scare away a pirate raid.

Thoughts kept mixing around in June's head as she walked home, she wanted to know more, about who the newcomers were, why were they really here, and other questions about what it was like beyond the skies of Yearning. But those questions would have to wait until morning.

The next day started uneventfully, June woke, washed, got dressed, ate and set out for work. As she entered the bakery a voice called to her from the kitchen.

"Sorry, but we're not open yet!" June continued to walk into the kitchen.

"It's just me Gordon." She told a stocky, short-haired man who was removing a tray from an oven.

"You're here early, any reason?" Gordon asked as he stood up, setting down the tray, the smell of freshly cooked bread wafted around the room.

"Not really." June replied, "Just had an early night yesterday." She took an apron off the wall and put it on.

"Just because you wake up early doesn't mean you have to come straight to work." Gordon said as he began moving the loaves of bread onto a cooling rack. "You should take time to relax in the mornings.

"I have plenty of time in the evenings." June replied, "You know that if I started doing things in the morning I'd always be late."

Gordon laughed, "I guess that's true. There's a batch already ready, if you wouldn't mind setting them out front."

June nodded and walked over to a tray of bread sitting on the other side of the kitchen; picking it up, she turned and walked out to the front of the shop. Her job wasn't too exciting, but it suited her, she didn't have to think about anything, she just took orders, taking the bread and cakes from the kitchen to the displays and occasionally cleaning. And so her day continued, a few people came in, to buy something or another, one order for an upcoming birthday.

But despite her work, June's mind still wondered, did the people on other planets still work the way they did on Yearning. She knew from visiting the city that machines could be used to cook and sew, but she guessed the people of Porir just preferred knowing that human hands had made their goods.

While she was thinking a man entered the shop, the opening door ringing the bell attached to the frame. Shaking herself awake, June looked up.

"Good afternoon…." As June greeted the man she realised she didn't know him, he had medium length black hair, and warm brown eyes, but although his clothes were casual she knew he must have been one of the Federation soldiers.

"Kyle Young." The man introduced himself as he looked awkwardly around.

June brought up enough courage to ask a question, "Are you looking for anything in particular?" Kyle looked back at her and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not really sure, I was just wandering the village and…it smelled nice." He replied awkwardly.

June tried to suppress a giggle, she had expected soldiers to be more…rigid, she guessed. "Well, it's all handmade and freshly baked." She explained when a thought occurred to her, "Although aren't you supposed to be helping with the…" she tried to find a word to describe the Federation's militarization of the village, "…project?" she finally decided to call it.

Kyle frowned slightly, "Most of us will only be working in the evening so we don't interrupt people's work, and I'm not yet ready to start my classes." He sighed, "I'm really just trying to get to know people, but I'm not sure how exactly to introduce myself here." He said sheepishly.

June failed to suppress her laugh this time, they were just the same as her, neither side knew what the other was like. "So, do you want to buy anything?" She asked.

Kyle's face had lifted a bit, "You laugh at my face and still ask me if I want to buy anything?" Kyle retorted, "In many places that would be considered rude."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, it was just how we seem to have had the same preconceptions about each other." June replied.

"I guess so." Kyle replied as he reached into his pocket for his money. "Do you happen to have anything I couldn't get off-world?"


	3. Chapter 3

**(Kyle Young)**

Kyle walked out of the bakery with several loaves of bread that had been topped with eyebloom seeds, one of the local plants. The girl at the counter had said they made normal bread taste surprisingly sweet and it had certainly smelled nice enough.

He started walking back to the hall where he and his squad were staying, wondering what he would do in the evening, he still needed to wait and see who had the talents for the lessons he was supposed to teach. He sighed and looked up at the green-tinted sky, it had only just passed midday, but Kyle had woken up at dawn about 11 hours ago; getting used to the new days was going to be taxing.

He arrived at the hall and pushed the door open, the hinges creaking slightly as they moved. Kyle looked around, checking to see if anyone else was about, but he was alone. The hall only had a single main room and a bathroom, but it was spacious, and comfortable beds had been brought in and placed towards the back of the building, with a few curtains to provide a little privacy.

Kyle walked over to a small kitchen area in the corner beside the entrance and took one of the loaves out of the bag. He took a few seconds to take in the smell again before walking over to a drawer and taking out a knife. He cut two slices and sat down, eating the bread dry.

The girl, Kyle had to remember to get her name the next time he visited, hadn't being lying about the bread tasting sweet, as he quickly finished the portion he had given himself, only just resisting the urge to take another. He wrapped the bread back up and set it to the side as he decided what to do next.

Kyle looked down at his new watch; he still had another 14 hours until it would be considered reasonable to go to bed. He rubbed his eyes, a lot of people wished for more hours in a day, but Kyle was happy with the normal 24 on Earth.

He decided to take another walk, see who he could meet, it would help to find out more about the people as well.

* * *

><p>Kyle's walk ended up at the survival lessons his scout, Graham, was leading. As he approached he saw the young man kneeling down, his fingers working on what seemed like just a pile of sticks and rocks, surrounded by a small group of younger villagers.<p>

"Traps like these are simple to make, and will often ensure a good meal, which is especially important while out in the wild." He said as he carefully removed his hands from the trap and picked up a small stone, noticing Kyle as he did.

Kyle gave a casual wave, receiving a nod in reply as Graham tossed the stone at the base of the trap, snapping an almost invisible string and releasing a sharpened stick at the stone.

There were some impressed mutterings among the villagers, as Graham walked over and held up the rock that now had a chip taken out of the front.

"Now, if you would all like to try your hand at making one." He said as he pulled a reel of string from his pocket and started breaking off lengths of it, handing it out as people came up to him. Once everyone had started trying to replicate the trap, Graham walked over to Kyle.

"What brings you here?" He asked, dusting some dirt off his shirt.

"I was just wandering the village, found myself here." Kyle replied as he watched the trap-building, "You're starting early."

"Most of these people either don't have a job yet, or don't work during the day, so I decided to start now." Graham explained as he sat down, Kyle sitting down beside him. "You know, under different circumstances I would be giving out these lessons for fun."

"I know, but we need to help protect the colonies from any future Pirate invasions." Kyle sighed as he leant back a little.

"There's no need to lie to me sir." Graham said, his voice almost a whisper, "I'm smart enough to have figured out what's really going on."

Kyle leant forward again, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Space Pirates have been scouting the outer edges of Federation Space, and with Space Pirates, preparation is always a portent of something big." Graham explained, even though Kyle already knew everything about the situation, "So the Pirates are planning an invasion of Federation space, presumably angry about the loss of their home world. So the Federation decides to retaliate by involving the colonies in a 'defence' program. The colonies believe they are getting trained to protect themselves from Pirate raids, when in reality, by making deals with the Federation, they become targets for the Pirate invasion force, and a buffer for the Federation, as their now trained civilians hopelessly try to defend themselves. When the Pirates eventually break through the colonies, the Federation will retaliate with its full force, having already seen where the bulk of Pirate forces are and with them having been weakened by the colonial shield the Federation will have a tactical advantage and will be able to repel the invasion with minimal losses to their own interests." Graham paused and took a breath, "If that wasn't the case then the Federation would never bother to help the colonies, after all, these people are here because they wanted to cut ties with the Federation and the Federation government sees them as outsiders."

Kyle sighed, "What else am I supposed to do? The only option I see is to try my hardest to train these people, so that they might stand a chance when that day does come."

Graham put a hand on his commander's shoulder, "That's probably the best course of action, not the most desirable, but the one with the most potential for saving lives."

There was a yelp from one of the villagers as their trap went off early, almost skewering their finger. Graham sighed.

"I've got to keep an eye on these people; they're going to need their fingers."

Kyle nodded and started back towards the centre of the village, maybe he would look into a few more shops; it was easier to talk to people like that, and he didn't want to think too hard about what would happen when the Space Pirates made their move.

* * *

><p><strong>This chapter was a bit shorter than the others, but then again, this isn't going to be a long fic in general, but hope you enjoyed it nevertheless. Thanks for stopping by! :)<strong>


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